Adjustable clothesline support



June 8, 1937. A. o; JoHNsToN ADJUSTABLE CLOTHESLINE SUPPORTl Filed June 21. 1935 l 2 sheets-sheet 1 x NvENToR 2 Shee--ts-Sheet 2 A. o. JOHNSTON ADJUSTABLE CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT Filed June- 21. 1955 INVENTOR June 8, I

Patented J une 8, 1937 2,03

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT Alexander 0. Johnston, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application June 21, 1935, Serial No. 27,699

2 Claims. (C1. 248-327) This invention relates to supports for clothes- Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the hanger illusllnes and more particularly to adjustable hangtrated in Fig. 4;

ers for supporting clothes-lines in the basement Fig. 6 is a side eleVatOIl 0f the hanger fOl of homes and 1ike places, anchoring the other end of the clothes-line and .The main object of this invention is to profor stretching -or tightening the line and also vide means of simple, eiiicient and durable naillllstates the bracket OI sllDlJOltiDg the hangture for supporting clothes-lines in the basements ers from the ceiling beams or floor ioists found f homes whereby such lines may be readily in the basement of a home of the usual construng or erected and drawn or stretched to the struction; desired degree of tautness. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the hanger shown in Another object is to provide means for ad- Fig. 6 with the supporting bar shown in sec- Justably mounting clothes-line hangers in the tion; Y basements of homes and the like where additional Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the brackets for head room is often required whereby such hangsupporting the hangers;

115 ers and the line supported thereon may be read- Fig. 9 is a top plan of the bracket shown in ily and easily raised and moved to out of the Fig. 8; 15 way position when not in use without discon- Fig. 10 is a section taken on line X-X of necting such line from the hangers. Fig. 8;

A further object is to provide a hanger hav- Fig. 1l is a side elevation of a modified type ing means associated therewith for drawing taut of hanger and another form of supporting brackl or stretching the line supported thereon in such et; and 20 a manner as to eliminate the exertion and dif- Fig. 12 is an enlarged View partially in section ficulty encountered in the usual method employed illustrating the detail construction of the hanger to accomplish this purpose. shown in Fig. 11.

A further object is to provide a set of clothes- Referring to the drawings in detail A represents line hangers one of which forms an anchor for a wire or rope line suitable for use in the dry- 25 one end of the line and another an anchor for ing of laundered articles, having one end therethe other end of the line and having means asof anchored to a hanger or support B and exsociated therewith for drawing the line taut and tending aroundone or more intermediate antireleasably holding it in its stretched condition. friction hangers C that are spaced from the hang- A still further object resides in an anchoring er B, and from each other, with its opposite end 30 means for one end of a clothes-line whereby the attached or anchored to a hanger D which is line may be readily stretched or drawn taut to provided with a suitable mechanism for tightremove sagging in the line either before or aftening or Stretching the line as will hereinafter er the clothes have been hung thereon. be more fully explained.

These and other objects which will be herein- Each of the hangers B, C and D is secured to 35 i after made apparent to those skilled in this parthe web of a channel bar 2 that are supported ticular art are accomplished by means of this for vertical movement in brackets 3 which are C invention, one embodiment of which is described attachedV to the ceiling beams or iioor joist E in the following specication and illustrated in usually found in the basements of homes. While the accompanying drawings wherein: the beams or joist E present a most convenient Figure 1 is a plan view of a clothes-line supform of support for the brackets 3 it is obvious ported on hangers of my improved construction that other supports located elsewhere than in a and illustrates one arrangement oi such hangbasement may beemployed for supporting the ers, portions of the line and the frame to which hangers B, C and D without departing from my 4? the hangers are attached are broken away for invention. 45

Convenience 0f llllstlatOD; Each of the brackets 3 comprises a back Wall Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of one of 4 which is adapted to abut against and to the intermediate hangers .used in supporting the be secured to the face of the beam or joist E clothes-line; and a bottom wall 5 at right angles to the wall 50 Fig. 3 is a plan View of the hanger shown in 4 which is adapted to be secured to the under Fig. 2 with its supporting bar shown in section; edge of the beam or joist E. The outer face Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the hanger of each bracket 3 is provided, at its top and botformingthe anchor for one end of the clothestom, with outstanding lugs 6' and 'l which are une; Y apertured to form an opening for receiving the 515' channel'bar 2. The channel bar 2 is yieldably held in place in its respective bracketv 3 by a bowed spring 8 which has its ends attached to the lugs 6 and 1 and is bowed so that the central portion projects toward the Wall 4 and bears against the Web of the bar2 whereby the bar is pressed and frictionally held against the Wall 4. Thus it is apparent that Whenthe lineis not in use each of thechannel bars 2 together withits respective hangers B', C or Dmay be individually pushed upwardly through the brack-v et 3 until the lower ends of the bars and the line supported von the hangers Vcarried therebyY are substantially fiush with-thev bottoms of the beams orjoist E and, as a result, thelline and its supporting hangers are movedrintoan out of the Way position.

'I'hehanger B to which one end ofthe lineAV is anchored or secured when it is desired to string or erect the line'comprises a hook III'Whichv is riveted to the web of one ofthe channel bars 2.` Each of the anti-friction hangers.v C, which supports the lineA intermediate of'its ends, is

of similar construction and each includes a horizontally positioned groove VWheel or sheave II thatis journaled on an upstanding pinI2 formed onra bracket I3 that is secured to the web of another of the channel bars 2.

The hanger D comprises a grooved wheel or pulley I4 having an upstandingpin I5 on the grooved surface thereof to which. the opposite end of the line A is adapted to be secured. This wheel or sheave I4 is secured to a shaft I6 that is journaled in the arms-of a clevis I1. The clevis I 1 is pivoted at its base to an angle bracket I8 which ,is secured to the Vend of another of the channel bars-2. .f

In order that the line A extending'around the wheels fII and anchored to thehorok' IOYand the pin' I5 may be readily tightened or stretched to support the load imposed thereon, ya handle'2llv is secured to one end'of the shaft IG-so that the wheel or sheave I4 may be readily and easily turned to shorten the line between the hangers B and D, and in order that the line will remain taut Vafter it has been stretched the wheel I4 is also provided With ratchet teeth 2I which are engaged by a. dog 22 pivoted to the clevis I1. The dog 22 is adapted to slide over the teeth 2| when the wheel I4 is turned to Vstretch the line A, and to engage the teeth and Yprevent the wheel from turning in the opposite direction. n

To prevent the clevis I1 from swinging about its pivot on the bracketV I8 and at the same time to permit the clevis to be readily adjusted to move the wheel I4 to: any desired Vposition 'relative to the bracket, the outer end of the bracket is provided with a series of spaced notches 23 and a Y slotted pin'24 is slidably mountedin the base of K the clevis II which is adapted to be moved into one of the notches 23 'when the Wheelor sheave isinits proper position to lock the clevis in its setposition andv prevent anyturning movement' Y,

different elevations, comprisingY a substantially thereof'relative to thebracket I8.

In Figs. 11 and 12 I'have illustrated a modified Y form of supporting bracket which may be used A with anyA of the hangers B, C, and D. Inthis modificationl the hangers'V are securedv to asubstantially T-shapedbracket 25, the cross'bar of which is adapted to besecured to a suitable wall or other supportingf'member 26.V In'this exemplicationof Vmy invention I have' also shown a Vmodified form'of a locking device for preventing the clevis I1 from turning relative to its supporting bracket .25. j In, this. modication the base of the clevis I1 isprovided with rearwardly projecting spaced apertured lugs 21 through which extends a pin` 28 that secures the clevis to the anchorsthe pin 29 in the clevis I1. The pin .29

yieldingly prevents the clevisvfrom turning relative to the bracket 25.

`Bracket provides a means for supporting the tighteningv mechanism in such other places as an attic oroutdoors where it may beused either in lcombination with hangers B, C or D, or in com bination with the ordinary means of supporting y the line at the end and intermediate points and where it 'might be desirable to remove the tightg ening mechanism when not in use, leavinglthe vbracketk 25V as a permanent fixture.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have produced a series of hangers for supporting a clothes-line rwhich may be readily ati-- or drawn to the desired tautness and when the line is not in use the hangers may be readily moved Vto an out of the Way'position after the tension in the line has been released. This is accomplished by raising the dog 22 and'allowing the wheel I4 to turn. Further, from the'con' although the bars.2 may be readily moved up and downvwithin the brackets, the lugs 6 and. 1 are so'spaced apart that rotative movement of the bars, Vdue Vto the tightening ofthe line A, is prevented. .g

Vlhile I have described one embodiment of my invention and illustrated the hangers in connec tion withY the ceiling beams or floor joist it is to be Vunderstood that my invention may be emlbodied in otherforms and used in connection with other supporting means without departing frornthe spirit of my inventionV or the'scope of the appended claims. For example, other means besides those illustrated in Figs. 7 and V12 may be employed for positioning the clevis i I1 on the bracket I8, such as forming the Vclevis I1 with a rearwardly projecting lug, which when the clevis is positioned on the bracket I8, would enter one of the notches on the bracket and preventing the clevis turning relative tothe bracket. Or the outer end of the bracket may be made of Octagon or hexagon shape and a flat surface on the clevis IT.' In such construction the at surface on the cleviswould cooperate with one of the Octagon or hexagon shaped Ysurfaces when the clevis was VonV the bracket .and prevent relative turning L-shaped bracket adapted to be secured to the `bottom and side of a oor joist or the like and having unitarily formed spaced apertured'lugs Vprojecting outwardly from one side thereof with the apertures therein aligned, a line supporting member of channel shape verticallyslidable through the apertures in said lugs and having a Vline tensioning device secured to its lowerend and an arcuate spring having its ends attached tothe lugs'in the apertures thereof with the.interme4 25 Yjusted to the desired height andveasily stretched Ystruction of the brackets 3 it is apparent that diate portion thereof projecting inwardly toward u said bracket into yeldable engagement with the web of said channel memberto press the same into frictional contact with said bracket whereby said member is yieldably held at different elevations within said bracket.

2. Apparatus for supporting a clothes-linel at different elevations comprising a substantially L-shaped bracket adapted to be secured to the bottom and side of a floor joist or the like and having unitarily formed and vertically spaced apertured. lugs projecting outwardly from the front face thereof with the apertures therein aligned, a line supporting member of channel shape slidably extending through the aligned apertures in said lugs and having a right angle extension on its lower end adapted to receive a line tensioning device, and a vertically extending bowed spring having its ends attached in the apertures of said lugs with the intermediate bowed portion projecting toward the front of said bracket into engagement with said line supporting member for yieldablyl pressing the same into frictional contact With said bracket whereby the member is yieldably held at the desired elevation within said bracket.

ALEXANDER O. JOHNSTON. 

